One-Health Action to Preserve Antibiotics

Haileyesus Getahun is Director of the Department of Global Coordination and Partnership on AMR at the World Health Organization (WHO). In this capacity, he is also Director of the Joint Tripartite (FAO/OIE/WHO) Secretariat on AMR that coordinate the joint work of the organisations across the One Health spectrum. Earlier, he was Director of the Secretariat of the United Nations (UN) Interagency Coordination Group on Antimicrobial Resistance that was established by the UN Secretary General and released a ground- breaking report on how to respond to the global AMR in April 2019. Prior to his work on AMR, he was a coordinator in the Global TB Programmeof WHO, leading WHO’s efforts on HIV-associated TB and TB prevention as well as integrated community based TB activities.

Keith Sumption, Chief Veterinary Officer of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (CVO-FAO) , Leader of the Animal Health Programme (NSAH), and Director of the Joint Centre for Zoonoses and AMR (CJWZ).He has worked on disease ecology at the interaction of wildlife, domestic and the environment for more than 30 years, from initial studies on how disease can affect ecosystem balances (for his first degree in Ecology) , through PhD studies on African Swine Fever in wild and domestic hosts in southern Africa, and more than 17 years of management of epizootic diseases (Foot-and-mouth disease, FMD) in the wildlife –domestic interface as Secretary for the European Commission for the Control of Foot-and-Mouth Disease (EuFMD) Commission based in FAO. Since June 2020 he has been CVO for FAO, and since July, the Director of FAO’s Centre for Zoonoses and AMR (CJWZ), and leader of FAO’s animal health service.

Otridah Kapona is a Public Health Expert specialized in Communicable Diseases. She is an experienced AMR expert with a proven track record in supporting AMR NAP development and implementation in the African region. She served as AMR technical lead during Zambia’s Joint External Evaluation of IHR core capacities and has served as subject matter expert on AMR for; SADC, WHO AFRO, ReAct Africa, Africa CDC and FIND.Otridah is currently serving as Zambia’s National Focal Point and Coordinator for AMR and has overseen the successful formulation, completion and launch of Zambia’s first 10-year Multisectoral NAP on AMR. She coordinates NAP implementation and support with line Ministries, Regulatory Agencies, and Civil Society organisations. She has also led the development and finalisation of Zambia’s first National Integrated AMR Surveillance Strategy, Antimicrobial Stewardship Policy and formulation of related policy documents. She also played a leading role in the drafting and finalisation of the AMR and Biosafety & Biosecurity components of Zambia’s first NAP for Health Security.

Sekesai Zinyowera is a microbiologist with a PhD from the University of Zimbabwe.Initially she has worked as a laboratory scientist in the Ministry of Health and Child Care after which she was a microbiology lecturer at the College of Health Sciences, University of Zimbabwe for 4 years. In 2009 she was employed back into the Government as the Coordinator of the National Microbiology Reference Laboratory. She hasmore than 10 years’ experience in leading the reference laboratory for the country. She is the National AMR focal point on AMR in Zimbabwe, and spearheaded the writing of the Zimbabwe AMR Situation Analysis document and the National Action Plan which the country is currently implementing. With support from the WHO, she has assisted countries like Eritrea and Lesotho to come up with their own AMR documents. In her role coordinating AMR activities within the country and is also the Chairperson of the AMR Surveillance and Research Technical Working Group.

Sarada Devi K.L. is a Professor and Head at the Department of Microbiology, Government Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram. She is also the State Nodal Officer for AMR and has played a key role in development of the Kerala Antimicrobial Resistance State Action Plan. By training, she is an MBBS Doctor having a Postgraduate (MD) in Microbiology from Medical college Thiruvananthapuram. She also holds a Diploma in Medical Virology from the prestigious National Institute of Virology, Pune. Shehas several publications to her credit.

Will Gaze is a Professor of Microbiology at the European Centre for Environment and Human Health, part of the University of Exeter Medical School in the UK. His group works on complex interactions within microbial populations in human, animal and environmental microbiomes in the context of AMR. His current and recent research focuses on evolution, dissemination and transmission of AMR in natural and farmed environments including transdisciplinary projects spanning economics, microbial genetics, human behaviours, policy and mathematical modelling. He has advised governments, UNEP and WHO on the environmental dimension of AMR.

Girish Kumar Sharma is a Veterinary graduate (1978) and post graduate in Veterinary Bacteriology from Mathura Veterinary College (1981) and did his advanced course in animal virology from Animal Virus Research Institute, Pirbright, UK (1985).Since joining National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) in 1982 he has served NDDB in various capacities including General Manager and Group Head- Animal Health. He is presently serving NDDB as Officer on Special Duty, and has also earlier served as Head, Biotechnology laboratory, NDDB Anand and later Head, R&D Laboratory, NDDB Hyderabad. He has more than 20 years of experience of working in microbiology and biotechnology. He has also coordinated various animal disease control initiatives of the NDDB in the field of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), bovine brucellosis and mastitis etc. He has several national and international research publications.Apart from being a member of various important working groups and task forces, he has also participated in various national and international conferences and workshops. He is a member of Indian Dairy Association; Indian Virological Society; Indian Association for the Advancement of Veterinary Research; and Indian Society for Advancement of Canine Practice.

Amit Khurana is the director of CSE's programme on food safety and toxins. Along with his team, he pushes for necessary change in policies that help contain antimicrobial resistance (AMR) from animal and environmental routes.

Rajeshwari Sinha is a Deputy Programme Manager in the Food Safety and Toxins unit at Centre for Science and Environment, where she is involved in managing the global and national portfolio of the AMR programme. As part of her work, she engages in policy advocacy research on animal and environmental aspects of AMR. She has a PhD in enzyme and microbial biochemistry from the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, following which she transitioned into working at the science-policy interface in the public health space.